Norwell mother and executive came to Massachusetts from Barbados and keeps alive the American dream for herself and others

Jody Feinberg

In the wake of the Democratic National Convention, there’s lots of talk about keeping alive the American dream. So it’s inspiring to know people like Juliette Mayers of Norwell, who has realized that dream and now helps others.

“My family struggled for a long time, and I’ve gone through the entire cycle of the American dream from being in poverty to now having what people would consider an affluent lifecycle,” said Mayers, a mother and marketing executive, who immigrated alone from Barbados at age 12 to live with her grandmother and get an American education.

“I had the benefit of having a lot of people take an interest in me, and I feel a responsibility to make time to help others.”

Mayers, 44, is the first executive director of multicultural marketing at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and recently was appointed chairman of the board of the anti-poverty agency Action for Boston Community Development, or ABCD. Starting her day before dawn so she can be home for dinner with her 10- and 13-year-old daughters, Mayers also mentors other women and minorities.

“Doing the mentoring and community work is my way of remaining connected and grounded and giving back,” said Mayers, who is a member of 1000 Women for Mentoring and mentors young women at Blue Cross Blue Shield. “It’s a way of really addressing an issue that has been near and dear to my heart, and that’s poverty.”

A woman of seemingly boundless energy and commitment, Mayers – who sleeps six hours a night – says she keeps chaos at bay by being extremely organized.

“I have just about every organizational tool you can think of,” she said, with a laugh, listing an office whiteboard, portable Blackberry, and manual lists for home. “By maintaining order and a system, I can be more focused and in the moment.”

These were some moments in her life last week. She completed most of the back-to-school shopping, hired a child care provider, and presented a major report on her initiatives at Blue Cross Blue Shield. On Tuesday, coping with a cold, she flew to Chicago to represent ABCD at a four-day conference on alleviating poverty. Over Labor Day weekend, she celebrated both the 20th anniversary of friends and her 17th wedding anniversary to Darryl Mayers, an attorney who is assistant vice chancellor for compliance and procurement at University of Massachusetts Boston.

“You probably can tell from my activities, it’s just a little bit crazy,” said Mayers, who nonetheless found time to speak graciously and candidly with a reporter.

Recently, Mayers was recognized as a “Visionary Woman of Excellence” by Unity First magazine, which focuses on diversity issues. And indeed, vision has played a big role in her life.

Before they married, she and Darryl talked specifically about their goals and how they planned to achieve them.

“We had a very clear vision about where we wanted to go,” Mayers said.

But it’s a lot easier to want something than achieve it. When Mayers entered the intensive master’s program at Simmons School of Management, Darryl, then head of procurement at Bechtel Parsons, assumed almost all the responsibility for their daughters, then ages 2 and 5, the household, and the finances.

“We could have said, ‘Oh, forget it, this is not going to happen with two young girls,’ Mayers said. “But we had the goal, and when things were really tough, we remembered that we had agreed to this. There is no way I could do what I do without the full support of my family.”

Mayers said her mother, a single mother and waitress who eventually also immigrated, inspired her to dream big, and she has passed on that perspective to other minority women.

“She had a lot of pride and didn’t let her circumstances define her,” said Mayers, whose mother died five years ago. “If you allow what you see around you to define you, it’s going to be very hard to get out of it. People can be so limiting in their assessment of you. My advice is to stick to your dreams and don’t let anyone say you can’t do it.”

Mayers also encourages by example. At work, she draws upon two decades of skills developed in finance, marketing and communications at GE Capital, Bank of Boston and The Ad Club Foundation, as well as Blue Cross Blue Shield. As that company’s first executive director of multicultural marketing, she is working to improve the lives of immigrants and minorities, who are an increasing percent of the state’s population.

“It’s a pretty exciting position because it complements the things I’m interested in,” she said. “At the end of the day, the goal is to be culturally sensitive in our approach and to make sure we are meeting the needs of our members and helping them understand how to better utilize their health care.”

For her own children, Mayers avoids the pitfalls of overscheduling. D’Anna, 13, and Danielle, 10, each pick one after-school activity each season. And she said she is trying to give the girls a strong sense of community by raising them in Norwell, where her husband grew up and recently deceased father-in-law, David Mayers, owned a real estate company and was a selectman. That is a far different childhood than hers, where she struggled to adjust to American culture.

As the presidential election gears up, Mayers, who was a delegate to the Massachusetts Democratic Convention, admits that she had wondered whether the dream of an African-American Democratic presidential candidate could become reality.

“I have to admit, in the back of my mind, I thought, ‘Are we as a country ready for this?” she said. “What’s happening with the whole election is amazing. I have to say, I’m very pleased and surprised that we’ve come this far.”